Summer Learning Loss: The Problem and Some Solutions (continued)

Modified Calendars. Finally, summer learning loss also could be used to argue for modifying the school calendar to do away with the long summer break. Many proponents of school calendar change call for modified arrangements in which children might or might not attend school for more days, but the long summer vacation is replaced by shorter cycles of attendance breaks.

A meta-analysis by Cooper et al. (in press) focused on studies of school districts that modified their calendars but did not increase the length of their school year. The most important finding of the synthesis was that the quality of evidence available on modified school calendars made it difficult to draw any reliable conclusions. Moreover, the evidence from the meta-analysis revealed ambiguous results. First, 62% of 58 districts reported that students in the modified calendar program outperformed students in the traditional calendar program. Second, the effect for 39 school districts favored modified calendars, but the size of the impact, though significant, was quite small. There was stronger evidence that (1) modified calendar programs do improve achievement for economically disadvantaged or poor-achieving students; (2) programs implemented more recently may be showing improved results; and (3) the students, parents, and staffs who participate in modified calendar programs are overwhelmingly positive about the experience. There are also specific actions that policy makers can take to improve community acceptance of modified calendars, such as involving the community in planning the program and providing high-quality intersession activities.

Conclusion

In sum, what do we know? (1) It is clear that students do forget mathematics material over the summer, and poor children lose reading skills as well. (2) Extending the school year by a few days is a questionable intervention, but we should not rule out the possibility that substantial increases in the length of the school year coupled with corresponding curricula reform could have a positive impact on student learning. (3) Summer programs are an effective intervention for purposes of academic remediation, enrichment, or acceleration, and a knowledge base has accumulated that can help make the most of summer school. (4) Modified school calendars may have a small positive impact on student achievement and a more noticeable impact on the achievement of disadvantaged children, but the existing research contains design flaws that render conclusions tentative at best. Further, there are many variables that might influence the effect of calendar variations that are yet to be tested.

For More Information

Alexander, P., Entwisle, D. R., & Olson, L. S. (in press). Schools, achievement, and inequality: A seasonal perspective. In G. Borman & M. Boulay (Eds.), SUMMER LEARNING: RESEARCH, POLICIES, AND PROGRAMS. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Association of California School Administrators. (1988). A PRIMER ON YEAR-ROUND EDUCATION. Sacramento, CA: Author. ED 332 271.

Cooper, G., & Sweller, J. (1987). Effects of schema acquisition and rule automation on mathematical problem-solving transfer. JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY, 79(4), 347-362.

Cooper, H., Charlton, K., Valentine, J. C., & Muhlenbruck, L. (2000). Making the most of summer school: A meta-analytic and narrative review. MONOGRAPHS OF THE SOCIETY FOR RESEARCH IN CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 65(1), 1-118. EJ 630 022.